Woman charged in peacock beating death found not guilty

Sandra Maloney

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The jury in the trial of a Makaha woman charged in the beating death of a peacock decided she is not guilt on Friday.

Sandra Maloney, 70, told jurors Thursday in her animal cruelty trial that when she moved to Makaha Valley Towers in 2004, she thought the peacocks that were roaming freely on the property were "quite lovely." But soon, any love for the squawking birds was gone.

May 17, 2009, she grabbed a baseball bat and killed a bird.

Under Hawaii law, a person commits second-degree animal cruelty if he or she "kills without need any animal other than insects, vermin, or other pests."

The defense says the state doesn't require a permit to hunt peafowl in Makaha Valley, and that Maloney had plans for her kill.

Second-degree animal cruelty is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.